Shall I summarise what women from Greek myth have in common? I mean, I’m not doing much. Just cleaning my fangs while I lie in wait for an unsuspecting bug to get caught in my web. I really hope it isn’t a moth. Their wing dust gets everywhere. Just like that shit humans call glitter. I got dust in 3 of my eyes the last moth I ate. And I really hope one of those clumsy humans doesn’t walk this way. They walk night blind into my web, destroying all my hard work, then do a little panic dance. What’s up with that?
Anywho, before I start, I’d like to point out that this is not a man hating exercise. Granted, I will kill and eat any males that attempt to mate with me. But there’s no hate. You’ll soon see that women too, can be just as dangerous to women. What I’ll discuss, are the connections between the old stories. Stories that still ring true for women to this day. Unfortunately, these stories trigger a lot of people to switch off, resulting in the stories remaining unheard. Without these stories heard, we are doomed to remain stuck in their narrative. Just as this doomed fly is about to get stuck in my web.
Excuse me one sec….. Nom nom nom.
Buuurrpppp. I’m back!
It’s time to return to the beginning. Do you remember Pandora? The first of our kind. A woman. A beautiful evil. The unleasher of all of mans ills. Anyone notice that the Gods conducted evils way before they made Pandora? They say man was created in the image of the Gods. That man inherited the Gods follies. Stories of the Gods raping women exist. Why? With these stories, men would say ‘if the Gods can’t resist, how can I?’, removing all responsibility for their actions. The truth is, Pandora wasn’t the bringer of evils. She was a scapegoat for men and gods alike. What exactly did Pandora do wrong? She dared to exist.
How about Medusa. What a fucking monster! She had snakes for hair and could turn living things to stone. In actuality, Medusa was raped by Poseidon in the Temple of Athena. In the ultimate ‘what were you wearing’ response, Athena cursed Medusa to be the monster we identify her with. Ironically, Medusa never petrified anyone. All her victims came after the ‘hero’ Perseus cut off her head and used her curse for his own gains. What did Medusa do so wrong that she was cursed, driven into exile, and murdered? She dared to be beautiful.
While I’m on a roll. Let us discuss Cassandra. Princess of Troy, Priestess of Apollo. Given the gift of prophesy, cursed to never be believed. She was locked away. Considered crazy. Did you know that in psychology, women who are victims of domestic violence who are not believed (due to powerful or likeable perpetrators), are called Cassandra’s? In Cassandra’s story, her world burned. The consequences of not being believed were deadly. The consequences for victims of DV who aren’t believed can be just as deadly. What did Cassandra do that was so shit, she would suffer this curse? She dared to say no to a powerful man.
Finally, but not the last, there is me. Arachne. Yep, you guessed it. The first spider. I loved to weave you see. Got pretty good at it. I was confident. A trait in men that is admired, but in women, is mostly seen as hubris. I was also rather opinionated. Well, my tapestries were. My skills attracted the attention of Athena. The Goddess of War and Weaving. One would say, she has quite the diverse skillset. Athena challenged me to a weave-off. I’m not sure if my downfall was that I produced work as good as hers, or if it was the fact that my tapestries told the stories of all the shitty things the Gods have done to women. When Athena saw this, she was livid. In a blind rage, she beat me with her shuttle. Now I’d heard what happened to Medusa. I wasn’t sticking around to get cursed. So, I ran. I found the sturdiest tree I could hang myself from. For I believed that death was a kinder fate than suffering a curse from Athena. She is a Goddess however, and much faster than one would imagine of someone wearing a full-length chiton. One moment, I was up a tree, preparing to jump, the next moment… My fucking skeleton migrated to the outside of my body. Due to the jealousy of a woman, whom I also made confront her evil deeds, I was transformed into the first spider. Cursed to be feared, squished, and to weave for eternity. So, what did I do wrong? I told the stories of women who have been assaulted or cursed by the Gods. But even worse than that. I dared to be seen.
One thing about being cursed for eternity, is the amount of time I have had to witness women receiving these same curses, age after age. I’ve discovered that all stories share a common theme. That every curse holds a power within. Pandora still retains the spirit Elpis. Which translates to hope. Medusa’s ability to petrify was so powerful, neither man nor God could rape her again. Cassandra. Well, she could have made an absolute killing off SportsBet. Or alternatively, if she listened to her own prophecies, she had the ability to save herself. And what about my curse? I can create spider silk. One of the strongest natural substances known to humanity. Imagine what we could achieve if we came together, supported, and spun our truths as one. Together our spider silk would be unbreakable.
Ah fuck. I must run. One of those blind humans is coming this way.
She dared to exist
She became the bringer of evil
She dared to be beautiful
She became the snake-headed monster
She dared to say no
She became a phrophet, cursed to never be believed
And me?
I dared to be seen
I became the first spider, cursed to weave for eternity
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